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Social rights in the shadow of poor relief – social assistance in the universal Swedish welfare state

Panican, Alexandru LU orcid and Ulmestig, Rickard LU (2016) In Citizenship Studies 20(3-4). p.475-489
Abstract
The idea of a European social citizenship is being developed by the EU

to provide a minimum safety net. Questions about social citizenship

are of fundamental importance in people’s everyday lives. Social

assistance is a central dimension when studying social citizenship.

Before discussing in terms of a European social citizenship, we should

determine whether we have a social citizenship at the national level.

We therefore analyse the Swedish welfare state, one of the most

mature welfare states in the EU. We conclude that the social right to

social assistance is not part of modern citizenship, nor does it follow the formal principles of legal citizenship rights. The law... (More)
The idea of a European social citizenship is being developed by the EU

to provide a minimum safety net. Questions about social citizenship

are of fundamental importance in people’s everyday lives. Social

assistance is a central dimension when studying social citizenship.

Before discussing in terms of a European social citizenship, we should

determine whether we have a social citizenship at the national level.

We therefore analyse the Swedish welfare state, one of the most

mature welfare states in the EU. We conclude that the social right to

social assistance is not part of modern citizenship, nor does it follow the formal principles of legal citizenship rights. The law presupposes a considerable amount of discretionary power at the local level when it comes to identifying the deserving poor; something that goes against the definition of a legal citizenship right. The right to social assistance is still a reproduction of the old poor-relief logic. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
social assistance, social citizenship, EU, minimum safety net, europena social citizenship, national level, Welfare states, law, discretionary Power, local level, poor, deserving poor, right, old poor-relief
in
Citizenship Studies
volume
20
issue
3-4
pages
14 pages
publisher
Taylor & Francis
external identifiers
  • scopus:84958061131
  • wos:000374951200013
ISSN
1469-3593
DOI
10.1080/13621025.2016.1139053
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
4cd8460d-45f0-4b55-9ce1-15710adb3c36 (old id 8861563)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:06:13
date last changed
2023-03-08 18:40:46
@article{4cd8460d-45f0-4b55-9ce1-15710adb3c36,
  abstract     = {{The idea of a European social citizenship is being developed by the EU<br/><br>
to provide a minimum safety net. Questions about social citizenship<br/><br>
are of fundamental importance in people’s everyday lives. Social<br/><br>
assistance is a central dimension when studying social citizenship.<br/><br>
Before discussing in terms of a European social citizenship, we should<br/><br>
determine whether we have a social citizenship at the national level.<br/><br>
We therefore analyse the Swedish welfare state, one of the most<br/><br>
mature welfare states in the EU. We conclude that the social right to<br/><br>
social assistance is not part of modern citizenship, nor does it follow the formal principles of legal citizenship rights. The law presupposes a considerable amount of discretionary power at the local level when it comes to identifying the deserving poor; something that goes against the definition of a legal citizenship right. The right to social assistance is still a reproduction of the old poor-relief logic.}},
  author       = {{Panican, Alexandru and Ulmestig, Rickard}},
  issn         = {{1469-3593}},
  keywords     = {{social assistance; social citizenship; EU; minimum safety net; europena social citizenship; national level; Welfare states; law; discretionary Power; local level; poor; deserving poor; right; old poor-relief}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{02}},
  number       = {{3-4}},
  pages        = {{475--489}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{Citizenship Studies}},
  title        = {{Social rights in the shadow of poor relief – social assistance in the universal Swedish welfare state}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13621025.2016.1139053}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/13621025.2016.1139053}},
  volume       = {{20}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}